Garden waste

Yes, you can buy additional garden waste bins at a one-off cost of £35.50 each plus £30 subscription fee per bin.

If you wish to take out a second subscription please order from our website.

Our collection crews will not accept any excess garden waste that is presented alongside or on top of your bin. If you occasionally have more waste than can fit inside your bin, please hold this over and place it loose inside your bin after it’s been emptied, ready for your next scheduled collection day.

Alternatively, if you regularly generate additional garden waste and want us to collect it, please purchase an additional bin and subscription.

Yes, however, you may only use special biodegradable sacks purchased from us. The price is £8 per roll of 20 sacks which includes delivery and collection.

Order garden waste sacks

Owing to the composition of the sacks, they have an expected shelf life of 12 months. Please bear this in mind when placing your order.

Please note that this service is only available to households not on wheeled bin collections.

You are welcome to keep your bin and use it for some other purpose such as storing filled recycling sacks and cardboard in between collections. If you use your bin for storage, please make sure you take the sacks out of the bin on your collection day and place them at your usual collection point.

If you don’t want to keep your bin, we can arrange for it to be collected on request. You can email our customer Service Centre on csc@braintree.gov.uk who will arrange a collection.

Please note that if you return your bin and later decide that you want to subscribe to the service, you will need to buy a new bin.

The standard bin size is 180L

Customers who previously upgraded to a 240L bin may continue to use this at no extra cost until such time as the bins needs to be replaced, at which point a 180L will be offered.

Customers with a 140L bin can upgrade to a 180L on request. We are no longer offering 140L or 240L bins.

If your bin becomes damaged or needs replacing, you will need to purchase a new bin and we will send you a new subscription sticker to put on it.

If you believe that the damage was caused by the Council, please email our Customer Service Centre at csc@braintree.gov.uk and include any evidence you have in support of your claim.

Residents who choose not to use the Council’s garden waste collection service are encouraged to:

• composting at home
• joining a neighbourhood composting scheme if there is one in your local area
• taking it to any of Essex County Council’s Household Waste and Recycling Centres

There is nothing to stop you sharing a bin with a neighbour to help keep costs down, although the bin and subscription can only be registered to one address (and that address would own the bin).

No, your grey bin is for non-recyclable waste only.

Composting is by far the most environmentally friendly way of dealing with garden waste and so if you do not opt-in to our subscription service, we would encourage you compost your waste at home. Alternatively, you can take it to any of Essex County Council’s Household Waste & Recycling Centres.

Bins can be purchased through the Love Essex website . They also offer FREE on-line training to help you get started with home composting.